1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to scheduling systems, and more particularly to a system and method for scheduling development of a portfolio of new products to be developed in accordance with a development plan.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In today's marketplace, development of new products to be brought to market is becoming of increasing importance. In many industries, product life cycles are becoming shorter, increasing the importance of new product planning and introduction. Planning of new products is usually based upon a decision by management as to what new products will sell the best, and hopefully provide the best profit margins for the company.
Once a portfolio of products to be developed has been selected, it is necessary to implement scheduling controls to implement the plan. Feedback regarding the actual status of the various development projects is necessary to ensure that product development proceeds on schedule, or that trouble areas can be addressed.
With present systems, it is difficult to trace progress of the plan. Further, when problems occur with suppliers of needed materials, the adverse impact on the project schedule is usually found out just before the materials are needed. Competition between projects within a company can upset development schedules, because of lack of availability of needed resources.
It would be desirable to provide a product development scheduling system which allowed a company to better schedule its resources for product development projects.